The present invention concerns a device for transferring a fluid to a ship, of the type comprising:                a support platform defining a support surface having an outer edge;        a manifold disposed on top of the support surface and intended to be connected to a fluid tank located on the ship, the manifold comprising:        a length of rigid tube having an outer end located facing the support surface, the length of rigid tube defining an inner pipe with approximately horizontal axis in the region of the outer end; and        a length of connecting tube, attached to the length of rigid tube, the length of connecting tube having a free end capable of projecting beyond the outer edge in order to be connected to a first fluid transfer line, and defining an inner passage opening into the inner pipe and at the free end.        
Such a device is applied in particular to the transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between a transport ship and a storage installation for the product located at sea and/or an unloading installation for the product, known as a terminal.
In order to transport the liquefied natural gas between the production zones located at sea and storage areas located in the vicinity of the coast, it is known to load or unload tankers at sea, mooring the ship to a loading or unloading station at sea.
The stations comprise a gantry which carries a fluid transfer line. The line is formed for example by a plurality of rigid tubes hinged to one another or by a cryogenic flexible pipe suspended on the gantry. In the latter case, and in order to permit the loading of the LNG into the ship, or its unloading, the cryogenic flexible pipe must be connected to a loading pipeline, designated by the term “manifold”, of a tanker.
Taking into account the large number of tankers crossing the seas, it is known to provide a removable connector fitting on the one hand on the flexible pipe and on the other hand on the manifold of a particular ship.
The removable connector, when it is attached to the manifold, extends the latter beyond the outer edge of the ship. Thus it is possible to make the connection between the flexible pipe and the ship at a point located outside the ship, in particular when the flexible pipe assumes a “catenary” configuration, with its attachment end inclined upwards.
To this end, from EP-A-1 324 944 a transfer device of the aforesaid type is known in which the tubular connector is stored at rest on the loading or unloading installation for LNG at sea, and is then connected to the manifold of the ship by means of a crane, after the ship has been moored to the installation.
Since the connector is carried by the installation when it is not connected to the ship, no connecting device projects out from the side of the ship while it is navigating.
Such a device does not however give complete satisfaction. When the sea is rough, the relative movement of the ship with respect to the installation considerably impedes the fixing of the rigid tubular connector onto the manifold. The manoeuvring difficulties render the fluid transfer time-consuming and not very secure.